By: John Chambers
It was 1967, our Centennial year when my dad took me to my first Ti-Cat game. It was from that point on that my absolute love for the game was born. I was in awe of names like Barrow, Zuger, Mosca, Bethea, Coffey, Grant and Henley. Hamilton won the Grey Cup that year in Ottawa over Ron Lancaster and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and since then I have truly bled Black and Gold.
It would take 19 years for my most memorable TigerTown moment to occur… the 1986 Eastern final second game in Toronto.
That year Montreal and Ottawa finished with less than nine points respectively, so the CFL playoffs saw 4 teams playing in the West, and the East lined up for a two game total point series featuring the Argos and Cats.
It was November 23rd and I rode the bus down to Exhibition Stadium with the rest of the Ticat throng. Sitting with my football buddies, in the middle of a strong Argo contingent, it was hard to contain ourselves with the anticipation and excitement. We began to wonder about the football gods that day, as Les Browne went down in the pre-game, and Walter Bender, the running back, was briefly inserted as a DB. Man we thought the odds were really stacked against us. Already trailing by 14 points, after losing the first game in Hamilton the week before, we had to endure the wrath of those Argo fans as they scored first and at one point had as much as a 23 point lead… TWENTY-THREE POINTS!
It was tough to take. It got so bad that some of my friends went and sat on the bus for the rest of the game. However, two of us stuck it out, and managed to endure the somewhat belligerent taunting from the boatmen faithful surrounding us.
But as they have for over 30 years the Cats hung in there, refusing to quit. Slowly with the likes of Kerrigan, Ingram, Stapler, Bender, DiPietro, Champion and first year Cat, Paul Osbaldiston, the offence started to click. The defence, spurred on by a resurgence of the offence made play after play. It was for me a memorable defensive effort, where guys like Covington, Gorrell, Walker, Price, Sanderson, Sauve, Shields, Bennett and Zambiasi became part of my Ticat history.
The Cats clawed and fought.
It was back and forth all game, however, the Cats were making more plays then the Argos. It wasn’t until the waning minutes of the game that the Cats scored again. Then good old-fashioned defence held on making the final score 42-25. That made for a final combined score of 59-56. This, for me, was the greatest comeback that I have ever witnessed.
The next week the Cats went on to defeat the Eskimos in the Grey Cup and take the ultimate prize, yet it was the memory of that two game series that I will always remember. There were so many defining moments that day. Walter Benders’ twisting touchdown, Mike Kerrigan cool the whole time, a defence that reminded you of the likes of Mosca and Barrow, even Al Bruno’s grin, a mile wide, accompanied by a little dance… just as the clock ticked down. Forever, all of these images are etched in my mind.
Today as we sit up in Section 23, whenever there is a critical punt by the opponent, you can hear me chanting “Ilesic! Ilesic! Ilesic!”
Why?
Well in that game at Exhibition, late in the fourth quarter an Argo snap on a punt went awry, sailing over Hank Ilesic’s head. He ran back and was lucky to recover. To add to the already huge loss, as he got up he was so mad he actually threw the ball in disgust and hit a Tiger Cat player… add a 15-yard penalty. Follow that up with a Cats’ touchdown on the ensuing plays, and well I’m sorry but what fan who bleeds Black and Gold doesn’t get a bit excited about any type of Argo mishap. I remember that play so clear.
So to this day whenever I want a lift, I pull out my tape of that game played at Exhibition Stadium. In fact on more than one occasion, especially during some of the Cats harder times in the past few years, my buddies and I will pop in the tape and watch the somewhat grainy images of that second game, with colour commentary, no less from Ron Lancaster, reminding us of what was, and what can always happen.
I have learned that being a real fan is not about winning and losing (don’t get me wrong the next work day after a win is always brighter), but rather it’s about the spirit, the camaraderie with my friends and the other people around us. I truly do enjoy the whole experience of the Cats good and not so good… but that day at Exhibition Stadium as I was in the stands for one of the most memorable comebacks of all-time, that game will always stay with me, the Cats defied the odds and never gave up and if we all reflect, we will remember that they have done that MANY times in the past and I know they will give us those same memories in the future
… OSKEE WEE WEE
